In the manufacture of glass bottles and other types of containers it is known that various processing steps, for example, electronic inspection steps, can be performed sequentially at spaced apart stations, and that the containers can be sequentially advanced from station to station by a device, which is commonly referred to as a starwheel, that slides the containers across a plane in a part circular path. A starwheel is a device that rotates in a horizontal plane, and it heretofore has had a series of semi-circular or arcuate pockets in its periphery, each such pocket being adapted to receive one container therein. Containers are advanced to a first position of the starwheel in a single file by a worm gear or other handling device, and are removed from the starwheel at a second position by another worm gear or other handling device. The containers are advanced from the first position to the second position by the movement of the starwheel about its vertical central axis, typically in an indexing movement pattern in which the starwheel moves in a series of short arcuate steps.
In a typical prior art starwheel of the type described, there will be some clearance between each container and the starwheel pocket in which it is positioned. This clearance requirement causes such starwheels to be rather noisy, and it can lead to decentering or misalignment of the containers with respect to the inspection devices or other processing devices which are positioned to perform inspection or processing steps on the containers at various stations along the arcuate path travelled by the starwheel. The requirement for recentering or realigning of containers at each processing station delays the start of the processing step that is performed at such station, thus limiting the throughput of the processing line. Further, since a given starwheel is usually used to process containers of different sizes, it is usually necessary to supply each starwheel with change parts to be assembled to or removed from the starwheel to thereby increase or decrease the size of the container receiving recesses in the starwheel when it is desired to begin the processing of containers of a greater or lesser size, and this requirement adds to the cost of the starwheel and to the changeover time required to adapt a starwheel to the processing of containers of a different size.